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Not something I'm known for....
Sky vs Zen vs Plusnet for Fibre Broadband
- Thread starter Ian
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This isn't what I was expecting to hear, bit of a bugger eh?
I'd give it a week and if no improvement then revert. As you said, no point in paying more for less.
I'd give it a week and if no improvement then revert. As you said, no point in paying more for less.
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So I spoke to Zen again this morning....
Simple answer is it looks like I'm stuck with it. If there is a fault on the line its intermittent and will be a **** to find never mind prove to OR it needs fixing. That and the fact that I'm still within the acceptable range (above 59Mb) means I'm out of luck basically.
The 14 days cooling off period starts on the day I order the service which means the same 14 days it takes to activate are the same 14 days you get to change your mind. Ergo once the service is live its too late. That seems like a retarded way to do it to me....
So obviously I'll stay with Zen now. Would I have gone back to PN? I'm honestly not sure. They have their own issues as it is and it would be yet more faff - of which I've about had enough of tbh.. At least with Zen I can get through to them in about half the time as it took with PN, whether that's worth £12 a month more is another matter though..
On that subject I've spoken to three different people at Zen now, the first one was useless, the second one was better and this one today wasn't bad. To be honest they don't seem any better or worse than the guys at PN as I've not had any issues with them either, Zen are just easier to get thought to.
So there we have it. Much fun eh?
Oh and I've gone back to my HG612 and Asus N66U as the TP-Link VR600 seems to be dropping the connection more than it should be which I doubt is helping. I'll miss being able to see the line stats, but the Asus is so much better in every other way, more so with the Merlin FW. So that will be going back too.
Might look into unlocking the Huawei modem again.
Pretty sure Amazon is going to ban me soon, the amount of stuff I've ordered and returned recently is bordering on ridiculous!
Simple answer is it looks like I'm stuck with it. If there is a fault on the line its intermittent and will be a **** to find never mind prove to OR it needs fixing. That and the fact that I'm still within the acceptable range (above 59Mb) means I'm out of luck basically.
The 14 days cooling off period starts on the day I order the service which means the same 14 days it takes to activate are the same 14 days you get to change your mind. Ergo once the service is live its too late. That seems like a retarded way to do it to me....
So obviously I'll stay with Zen now. Would I have gone back to PN? I'm honestly not sure. They have their own issues as it is and it would be yet more faff - of which I've about had enough of tbh.. At least with Zen I can get through to them in about half the time as it took with PN, whether that's worth £12 a month more is another matter though..
On that subject I've spoken to three different people at Zen now, the first one was useless, the second one was better and this one today wasn't bad. To be honest they don't seem any better or worse than the guys at PN as I've not had any issues with them either, Zen are just easier to get thought to.
So there we have it. Much fun eh?
Oh and I've gone back to my HG612 and Asus N66U as the TP-Link VR600 seems to be dropping the connection more than it should be which I doubt is helping. I'll miss being able to see the line stats, but the Asus is so much better in every other way, more so with the Merlin FW. So that will be going back too.
Might look into unlocking the Huawei modem again.
Pretty sure Amazon is going to ban me soon, the amount of stuff I've ordered and returned recently is bordering on ridiculous!
Ian
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That's such a shame, I was really hoping you'd have a positive experience too.
How much have you optimised the rest of your connection, as you may be able to make up the shortfall there. I'm guessing you're already using the master socket and a proper interstitial filter that sits on the master socket? (I suspect I'm preaching to the converted, as you're more savvy with this than I am!). I switched from a flat RJ11 cable to a shielded twisted pair and that gave me an additional boost too.
How much have you optimised the rest of your connection, as you may be able to make up the shortfall there. I'm guessing you're already using the master socket and a proper interstitial filter that sits on the master socket? (I suspect I'm preaching to the converted, as you're more savvy with this than I am!). I switched from a flat RJ11 cable to a shielded twisted pair and that gave me an additional boost too.
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Yeah pre filtered faceplate, Decent shielded twisted pair RJ11 like the one you linked to and even using Cat6 ethernet cables. 
First rule of internet, throw away the RJ11 they give you for free!
Yeah right, you're way more up on this stuff than I am!
Sadly I think my issue is with the copper between me and the cab. You never know, maybe one day the wind will take down the dropwire so they have to replace it....
Or I might get lucky and it dies completely and they actually fix it for good.
First rule of internet, throw away the RJ11 they give you for free!
Yeah right, you're way more up on this stuff than I am!
Sadly I think my issue is with the copper between me and the cab. You never know, maybe one day the wind will take down the dropwire so they have to replace it....
Or I might get lucky and it dies completely and they actually fix it for good.
. That's what knocked ours out a while back!
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Sorry to hear...
Just given me an idea though, I have three wired router connections - 2 computers and the Xbox One S - and about 70 metres of shielded CAT 5 left on a reel. Might just have to make up some new leads.
Will also have to check out this Merlin firmware for the Asus router.
Just given me an idea though, I have three wired router connections - 2 computers and the Xbox One S - and about 70 metres of shielded CAT 5 left on a reel. Might just have to make up some new leads.
Will also have to check out this Merlin firmware for the Asus router.
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I was talking to a BT engineer a couple of months ago and he told me that betewn the box and your premises there could be aluminum cable which there is greater resistance than copper so that also could be a problem with your speeds.
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Yes I'm aware of that, but my line is all copper according to the last engineer we had out a some years back.
I'm still a bit disappointed by it and its left a sour taste in my mouth towards Zen - thought in fairness is it their fault? Probably not.
The BTW site still won't work and it won't let me see my IP Profile, its just keeps saying contact your service provider. So will have to get back on the phone to them again it seems....
I'm still a bit disappointed by it and its left a sour taste in my mouth towards Zen - thought in fairness is it their fault? Probably not.
The BTW site still won't work and it won't let me see my IP Profile, its just keeps saying contact your service provider. So will have to get back on the phone to them again it seems....
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It does not seem that you are getting a lot of luck there young VR, I hope you wake up tomorrow and find you are getting what you were expecting
, I hope you wake up tomorrow and find you are getting what you were expecting
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Well after being on the phone to them for an hour (many tests, using the ZyXEL router then supply etc) they now seem to think there is an issue at the exchange. As Zen have LLU gear at my exchange which means my traffic goes though their backhaul and not BT's. This is why the IP Profile page on the BTW site doesn't work.
Could this be the source of all the issues? Reading around there has been a lot of congestion issues with them of late too. Edit: congestion on their own network I mean.
Also: http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/zen/f/4509738-poor-single-thread-performance-problems-return.html
Seems I am affected by that too. Which I've notified them about, they are implementing a work around apparently.
Going to discuss cutting ties with them tomorrow, regardless of the cooling off period. Sorry to say peeps as I know there are some loyal customers of Zen's here, but IMO they are no better if not worse than BT, Plusnet Sky etc. Certainly not worth the premium they charge.....
Could this be the source of all the issues? Reading around there has been a lot of congestion issues with them of late too. Edit: congestion on their own network I mean.
Also: http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/zen/f/4509738-poor-single-thread-performance-problems-return.html
Seems I am affected by that too. Which I've notified them about, they are implementing a work around apparently.
Going to discuss cutting ties with them tomorrow, regardless of the cooling off period. Sorry to say peeps as I know there are some loyal customers of Zen's here, but IMO they are no better if not worse than BT, Plusnet Sky etc. Certainly not worth the premium they charge.....
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Good luck with that VR
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Well well, I've never had the speeds I've been promised from Zen - ever. And they've always blamed the local exchange.
In every other area they've been good, but now I'm wondering.
In every other area they've been good, but now I'm wondering.
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http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest.html
Go there Flops, run the test and post the sharing link on the results page.
The single thread issue will be affecting you if the green line is lower than the yellow one. They should be near as dammit the same.
For example, here's mine I just ran:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html?id=148015255363295471534
Go there Flops, run the test and post the sharing link on the results page.
The single thread issue will be affecting you if the green line is lower than the yellow one. They should be near as dammit the same.
For example, here's mine I just ran:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html?id=148015255363295471534
Ian
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I wonder if I'm not on their LLU package (here's my stats for comparison to you guys: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html?id=1480162498667331355).
Those stats don't look good @V_R
.
Those stats don't look good @V_R
.
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I wonder if I'm not on their LLU package (here's my stats for comparison to you guys: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html?id=1480162498667331355).
Those stats don't look good @V_R
https://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_checker
If you look up your exchange there, does it say Zen is LLU?
Its not great tbh, but at least its stable...